What does it mean that we celebrate Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah)on Shavuot? Are we speaking of the Ten Commandments or the Bible? The Talmud is also called "Torah." What is the difference?

Torah, or law, is a general name for all the literature and traditions that are considered holy in Judaism. Torah can basically be divided into three sections: Written Law and Oral Law -- which are both considered to have been divinely transmitted -- and the Rabbinic tradition, which has developed the Written and Oral law, both by expounding their meaning and by creating human legislation to enforce the divine legislation.

The Written Law refers to the five books of Moses. The Oral Law is the interpretations of the halacha, or laws contained within the five books of Moses which describe exactly how the commandments need to be fulfilled. The Oral Law was originally intended to remain a solely oral tradition that would keep the correct understanding of the Torah in the hands of those people most qualified to teach it, the sages. They would memorize and pass down the information through the generations.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, with the dispersion of the Jews and destruction of their communal and political structures, the sages were concerned that the Oral Torah would be forgotten, so they wrote it down as the Mishna.

The Mishna is a shorthand version of the Oral Law. In this way, understanding of the Mishna was still somewhat dependent upon those who could expound upon its cryptic format. Within two hundred years, the rabbis saw that the Mishna alone was not clear enough to ensure proper transmission. Parts of the Oral Law were in danger of being forgotten.

The rabbis thus codified the Gemara, a set of commentaries on the Mishna. Much of the Gemara are arguments about the true meaning of the Mishna, with the final psak (ruling) rendered for posterity. Together, the Mishna and the Gemara comprise the Talmud.

Why is the Oral Law so important? Can't I just follow the laws in the Torah, without all those details thrown in by the Rabbis?

The relationship between the Written and Oral Torahs might best be described by a analogy.

Most of the laws contained within the Torah are written in an extremely abbreviated - and sometimes esoteric - form, leaving room for various interpretations. The Rabbis understood that God authored the Bible in an extremely dense way, which would require study and knowledge of the Oral Law to fulfill any of the laws properly. For example, when referring to the kosher way to slaughter an animal, the Bible states, "And you shall slaughter them as I have commanded you." Yet nowhere does it spell out that command. That is part of the Oral transmission. By having to interpret the Written Law, the Jewish people are able to involve themselves in the Torah deeply and creatively, in order to follow it, rather than seeing it as a distant rule book.

There are several types of rabbinic interpretation or involvement. First and foremost, the sages define what was and what was not included in the Oral law. This in itself is part of the Oral Law. Then there are rabbinic decrees that are made in order to help ensure the proper observance of the commandments.

After the codification of the Talmud, the rabbinic tradition was still necessary to interpret and enforce proper understanding of the laws, and to render judgement in cases that were unprecedented. All of the rabbinic literature of the past two thousand years is either clarification of legal matters in responsa (she'elot u'teshuvot), elaboration upon the deeper or hidden themes within the Torah (this includes Aggada, Midrash, and the Hidden, or esoteric Torah), or other commentary explaining what the Torah means in a given case.

Torah literature ranges from medieval commentaries on the Book of Genesis to 20th century works on Mussar, the study of character development and self-improvement, as outlined in the Torah. Each generation has its own needs of clarification, and new developments in science or technology call for new applications of the halacha.

Much more than just laws, the Torah is a blueprint for successful human living, designed by the Creator, and containing guidelines for the integration of the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of life.

As it says in Proverbs (3:17-18) about the Torah:

"She is a tree of life for those who hold fast to her, and all of its supporters are happy. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and her paths are paths of peace."